Swans pushing for 3 Grand Finals

[CureTheSane]

Smacks of sensationalism to try and make a point.
Whilst I think the idea has some merit, I doubt anyone is realistically thinking that it will be considered.

[KSAS]

Smacks of sensationalism to try and make a point.
Whilst I think the idea has some merit, I doubt anyone is realistically thinking that it will be considered.

+1. I think the main motive behind this push is to keep reminding the AFL the GF at the MCG is a distinct advantage for Vic clubs in a national competition. A form of protest given that it has now been locked away there till 2057. The best we can hope from this is get more games scheduled at the MCG during the H&A instead of just the standard 2.

[Mel_C]

In the Sunday Herald Sun under the "Not Hot Barometer" it has the Best of 3 GF Series and it says for most players the season is long enough. However, underneath that it also lists Cricket Burnout and says that the cricketers get paid extremely well as fulltime professionals so they should toughen up. ???? What a contradiction!

[KSAS]

West Coast and Adelaide also now support a 3 GF series concept.

Paywall link but can be viewed using outline.com:
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/west-coast-join-push-for-bestofthree-grand-final-series/news-story/a308bc51f4c1f2351dac8330c24316be

[CureTheSane]

Sensing a bit of a mini united uprising against the establishment.
Will likely peter out to nothing, but still good to see.

[barry]

In the Sunday Herald Sun under the "Not Hot Barometer" it has the Best of 3 GF Series and it says for most players the season is long enough. However, underneath that it also lists Cricket Burnout and says that the cricketers get paid extremely well as fulltime professionals so they should toughen up. ???? What a contradiction!

Players have way too much influence in the AFL.

[Boddo]

The small advantages the northern clubs had to help them compete with Victorian clubs have virtually gone.

The academies have become heavily screwed in Victorian clubs favour now with even WA/SA having put in a submission to try to change their academy rules to atleast have a semblance of what the Vic clubs have.

COLA is virtually gone.

Non Victorian clubs do not have nowhere near the prime time games the Vic clubs have. You get to see great blockbusters like Carlton v St Kilda instead of the Showdown.

All the controls that kept non Vic clubs quiet are gone.

I don’t think it’ll go away I think it’s the start.

[CureTheSane]

It's simply something that needs to be raised every so often by the interstate clubs
The AFL hates criticism, but ironically their method for dealing with this is to simply ignore it.
Gill won't address it in the hope that it will peter out, which it will.
Which is why it needs to be raised again every year or so.
Also, it is in the interests of the interstate clubs to form an alliance of sorts and stand together in some ways.

Who knows, maybe one day the interstate clubs will break away from the AFL and create the AFC, Australian Football Championship, or something like that.
All they'd need to do is ring in a couple of Vic clubs who feel let down by the AFL and you have a truly national evenish competition, leaving the remaining Victorian clubs to basically join the VFL. Could even create a Tassie team, maybe a NT/ACT combo team.
12 teams, play twice, all problems solved.

Of course all this is just fun thinking as it would be impossible with contracts etc, but stranger things have happened I guess.

[KSAS]

I know this is slightly off topic, but I had a look at the AFL Org structure and I think it's glaring for a national competition there are no state representive positions.

The AFL administration - AFL.com.au
(This is dated from 2011 but the structure is still the same).

I would have an AFL office in each state with a local CIO heading it, who are on the ground and in continuous contact with local leagues and AFL clubs, nose to the ground to address/highlight residing issues. Each of these state CIOs report directly to the AFL Commission.

This structure would prevent the downward spiral of Tassie footy which was neglected by the AFL, prevent overbearing Vic influence (Eddie, Kennett, Clarko etc...) in formulating governance rules. Each state has EQUAL say and decisions like extending MCG GF to 2057 would've been at least fiercely debated.

AFL would be better off having it's HQ located out of Melbourne, so the likes of Clarko can't just have coffee chats with the CEO at a whim.

[barry]

The small advantages the northern clubs had to help them compete with Victorian clubs have virtually gone.

The academies have become heavily screwed in Victorian clubs favour now with even WA/SA having put in a submission to try to change their academy rules to atleast have a semblance of what the Vic clubs have.

COLA is virtually gone.

Non Victorian clubs do not have nowhere near the prime time games the Vic clubs have. You get to see great blockbusters like Carlton v St Kilda instead of the Showdown.

All the controls that kept non Vic clubs quiet are gone.

I don’t think it’ll go away I think it’s the start.

Thats a very good point. You cant be held to ransom if you have nothing to lose.

Its falling into line now. The big powerful non-vic clubs (Swans, WC and Adelaide) are aligned, and all have recent experience of the disadvantages.
The Mid-tier will probably follow soon (Port, Brisbane, Freo).
Be very interesting to see what the minnows do (GC and GWS). The AFL still have significant leverage against them in their fledgling state. But better to die on your feet, than live on your knees.

[stevoswan]

I know this is slightly off topic, but I had a look at the AFL Org structure and I think it's glaring for a national competition there are no state representive positions.

I would have an AFL office in each state with a local CIO heading it, who are on the ground and in continuous contact with local leagues and AFL clubs, nose to the ground to address/highlight residing issues. Each of these state CIOs report directly to the AFL Commission.

Those CIO's to be selected by the clubs in their respective states and not the league itself.....we don't want Victorians plants liaising with their masters on matters interstate and manipulating things at their behest.

[Boddo]

It just shows how bad the administrators are if they believed the new contract would just slide by unotticed.

IMO this is only the start. Next will be the FIXture.

People talk now and especially on social media. The old days of being fed bs by the likes of Sheahan via the VFL are gone. People have no interest in a concocted sports entertainment business.

They like to see everything fair n above board. Not a mates club that’s run by people just to make a few extra bucks for themselves. Perfect example was Fitzpats....t.

[Mel_C]

I'm not a fan of Jeff Kennett but there is a quote from him in the Herald Sun about the AFL Commission saying "The commission is just soft. We know they're don't uphold the highest standards of governance."

He is absolutely correct!

[CureTheSane]

The Swans would never come out and say that for fear of persecution (trade bans etc)
I see us (and most teams) as being fairly submissive to the AFL
Then you have the Hawks, the Bulldogs, and The Magpies and a couple of others who have representatives who are defiant and dissentious.

Like it or hate it, they sure create a real culture for the management of the club.
Our management culture would be, um... not sure, it's all behind closed doors. Not ashamed of this, but hard to be proud of it, like Hawks supporters would be right now with Jeff saying what they don't get to say, on their behalf.

[Jimitron5000]

Some of the comments in today's H/S regarding this show what the non Vic teams are up against. Very anti Swans, along the lines of 'they need three chances', 'pathetic interstate crap', 'still looking for unfair advantages', 'interstate teams have done very well in the GF' and even this wacky pearler.....'the Swans have the luxury of 11 home games every season, what more do they want?!' Seriously??!! There was even one bemoaning their greatest fear, interstate GF's.....'are we going to have GF's at tiny stadiums like Spotless or Metricon?' They really fear the GF being taken away from the exclusivity of the MCG.....

The delusion of this league being a totally fair one runs high in Victoria.

I had a debate with an Essendon supporting work colleague about how the AFL competition favours Victorian clubs, specifically the Grand Final issue and player drain from non-football states. He's normally quite an intelligent person but his main points were the Grand Final is at neutral venue (!!!), interstate clubs have an unfair advantage because of their home grounds regardless of travel, loss of players to Victorian clubs etc (!!!). and that Victorian clubs play derbies every week which affects their pre-match build up and post-match recovery whereas non-Victorian clubs only play one or two derbies a year, giving them yet another advantage (!!!!).
It will be a long, long, long time, probably multiple generations before the inherent inequalities that exist in the AFL due to geographic location are negated.